Police Arrest Dozens Of Antifa Counter-Protesters In Quebec City

Counter-protesters are held back by police as supporters of Quebec group La Meute marched nearby to demand stronger border controls in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada August 20, 2017. REUTERS/Renaud Philippe - RTS1CL0C

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Quebec City police arrested over 40 antifa supporters Saturday when members of the leftist group tried to break up a demonstration against radical Islam.

As CBC News reports, the demonstrators threw snowballs at police, who confiscated various weapons from the protesters and used tear gas to contain the violence.

The Antifa group was staging a counter-protest against the Quebec groups La Meute and Storm Alliance, both of which see radical Islam and unregulated multiculturalism as dangers to Canada.

The police said right-wing protesters presented no problems and actually discussed their parade route with authorities prior to their march.

“We had a very good collaboration with La Meute. They told us their intentions, their itinerary, where they were headed,” police spokesman André Turcotte told CBC News.

Turcotte said the counter-protesters were from various Antifa groups in the city, “but it’s clear they intended to counter La Meute’s demonstration.”

Police arrested 44 of them.

La Meute has a larger grassroots following in Quebec, a province that is increasingly hostile to radical Islam and which passed a law in its provincial legislature last month that banned the burqa and niqab in any facility that receives government funding.

It is also not the first time that Antifa groups have clashed with La Meute in the streets of Quebec City. In August, leftist groups threw deck chairs at police in another “counter-protest” that got out of control.

David Krayden is a weekly newspaper columnist, conservative political pundit and communications expert who was formerly an Air Force public affairs officer and communications manager on Parliament Hill.